Russell Clifford Butler

Russell Clifford Butler, 87, of Tulsa, went home to be with our Lord on June 17th 2017. The military honors funeral service will be held at Ft. Gibson National Cemetery on Thursday, June 22nd at 1:00 p.m. The address is: 1423 Cemetery Road, Ft. Gibson, Oklahoma. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Fitzgerald Funeral Service. Russell was born in Burlington, Iowa on February 2nd , 1930, to Clifford Raymond Butler and Hulda Ellen Laura Butler. He graduated from Burlington High School in 1949. In 1950 he decided to join the United States Air Force to serve in the Korean War. In the Air Force he was a radio operator crewman on a C-46 Cargo Aircraft stationed in Japan, and flew back and forth to Korea. While stationed in Japan, his friend Bud Ruhs, whom he had met shortly after joining the Air Force, showed him a picture of his sister Lorna Rosella. Russell and Lorna fell in love writing letters to each other. Russell was married to Lorna on June 5th 1955. They stayed head-over-heals in love, and on June 5th 2017, celebrated 62 years of devoted marriage. Russell first worked on the railroad in the mail car for a year before joining the Air Force. After his Air Force career, he worked as an Air traffic controller for the Federal Aviation Administration for 23 years before retiring in 1980. He enjoyed working post-retirement for the City of Faith Hospital as a computer system electrical technician. He was an excellent golfer and played golf anytime he could. He was an aircraft enthusiast and could tell you what plane was flying overhead just by hearing it. He enjoyed the outdoors, trains, and traveling west to the mountains. Having grown up helping his father, who was an electrician, Russell was a “jack-of-all-trades” who could build, plumb and wire a house from the ground up. Most of all, he loved his family and the LORD. His legacy is that of genuineness, generosity, and being a true gentleman. He was always ready to make you laugh, with his silly, off-beat sense of humor. Russell is survived by: his wife, Lorna Butler; six children, Deaven Butler and his wife, Linda, Danette and her husband, Mark Livingston, Dann and his wife, Bernice Bjorklund, Dean Butler and his wife Shelley, DeeAnn Butler, and Dwayne Butler; ten grandchildren, April Mary, Garth Bjorklund, David Livingston, James Livingston, Timothy Livingston, Phillip Bjorklund, Andrew Bjorklund, Lisa Bjorklund, William Butler and Brady Butler; great-grandchild, Lilianna Mary; brother, Robert Butler and his wife, Mary; and many other family and friends. Russell is preceded in death by: his parents, Clifford and Laura Butler; brother, Ralph Butler; and nephew, David Bjorklund. FITZGERALD IVY CHAPEL, 918-585-1151

Russell Clifford Butler

February 2, 1930 - June 17, 2017